What are splenic varices?

What are splenic varices?

Splenic vein thrombosis is a relatively common finding in pancreatitis. Gastric variceal bleeding is a life-threatening complication of splenic vein thrombosis, resulting from increased blood flow to short gastric vein. Traditionally, splenectomy is considered the treatment of choice.

What is sinistral portal hypertension?

Sinistral portal hypertension occurs when a pathological process causes occlusion of the splenic vein. The resultant elevated splenic bed venous pressure causes formation of gastric varices which can lead to hematemesis as a common presentation for this disease process.

What is splenic vein thrombosis?

Splenic vein thrombosis (plural: thromboses) is an uncommon condition in which the splenic vein becomes thrombosed, that most frequently occurs in the context of pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.

What is Presinusoidal hypertension?

Portal hypertension is defined as a pathologic elevation in portal venous pressures. The causes are classified as presinusoidal, sinusoidal, or postsinusoidal. In presinusoidal portal hypertension, there is obstruction or stenosis in the portal vein, its tributaries, or intrahepatic branches.

What causes varices?

Sometimes the veins rupture and bleed. Causes of esophageal varices include: Severe liver scarring (cirrhosis). A number of liver diseases — including hepatitis infection, alcoholic liver disease, fatty liver disease and a bile duct disorder called primary biliary cirrhosis — can result in cirrhosis.

What causes varices in spleen?

The most common causes of splenic vein occlusion are pancreatic diseases, such as pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, or a pseudocyst. However, various other cancers, such as colon, gastric, or renal cancers, have also been known to cause splenic vein occlusion.

What is portal artery?

The portal vein is a blood vessel that delivers blood to the liver from the stomach, intestines, spleen, and pancreas. Most of the liver’s blood supply is delivered by the portal vein.

What causes splenic vein thrombosis?

Chronic pancreatitis is the most common reason for splenic vein thrombosis.

What is a thrombosis?

Thrombosis occurs when blood clots block your blood vessels. There are 2 main types of thrombosis: Venous thrombosis is when the blood clot blocks a vein. Veins carry blood from the body back into the heart. Arterial thrombosis is when the blood clot blocks an artery.

What is Presinusoidal?

[pre″si-nŭ-soi´d’l] located in front of a sinusoid or affecting the circulation before the sinusoids are reached; used especially to denote the location of vascular resistance in portal hypertension.

What are the causes of Presinusoidal extrahepatic portal hypertension?

Causes of presinusoidal intrahepatic portal hypertension include schistosomiasis, myeloproliferative diseases, sarcoidosis, congenital hepatic fibrosis, chronic arsenic poisoning, and primary biliary cirrhosis.